Notice Me
by Blue Jeans
Summary: It's been three years since Sasuke's disappearance. Now he's finally been tracked by someone from his past that he least expected and a showdown he did not see coming will inevitably make him face some truths he had long been avoiding. [SasuSakuNaru]
1. Part I Encounter on the Road

**Disclaimer**: Usual applied. I don't own the characters.

**Warning:** They're not OOC, they're just older that's all. I just thought this would be how the characters would be like, older and more mature. (It's an excuse, I'm using it.) This is based on the manga, so I don't know what's going on in the anime and I have no clue on any filler episodes (not even the "unmask Kakashi" one).

**Spoilers:** If you have not finished reading up to volume 26, that's chapter 233 of the manga, you'll encounter a lot of spoilers. As for the anime, they're not up to it yet, so don't bother reading this fic to spoil the storyline for yourself.

* * *

_It's been three years since Sasuke's disappearance. Now he's finally been tracked by someone from his past, someone he least expected. A showdown he did not see coming will inevitably make him face some truths he had long been avoiding. (In the end, though, he would not be the only one left untouched.)_

* * *

**Notice Me**

_by Blue Jeans_

_**Part I - Encounter on the Road**_

He first noticed the tracker the night before. He wasn't sure how long the fool had been following him, but he was pretty confident that the other was ignorant of him having detected it being there. Two nights ago, he had gotten wind that his brother was spotted in a town near this particular road, but that Itachi was there a week ago. It annoyed him that he was still so behind his brother's trail, but at least now there was a trail.

Three years. Three years of hell and training. Three years under the cursed seal placed upon him and finally, Itachi's scent was caught. Uchiha Sasuke smirked darkly to himself as he quickened his pace. Three years of non-stop training and dreams of revenge, it was all coming soon, this inevitable meeting and his own destiny. But first, before all of that, he must get rid of the ninja on his tail. It had been awhile since anyone was distinctly sent for him. At first the Leaf Village had sent many Hunter-Nins on his trail, but he had evaded them all. It had been half a year since Sasuke had heard rumors that he had been declared a missing-nin and placed on the book of criminals, but he was passed caring about any of that.

Some nights, when he wasn't careful, memories of his childhood would return. Those nights were the most annoying as he had no time for childish whims. He was almost a man now, and his duties of vengeance far exceeded his need for friends and family. Such needs were weaknesses, weaknesses he could not afford...

Weaknesses that may one day be turned against him.

His tail had finally caught up to him around noon, and for theatrics, he attacked outright with shurikens to acknowledge the other's presence. "Took you awhile," he said, pausing in the middle of the deserted road. Here, no one would disturb their fight as he had led them off the main road some hours back.

"I didn't want to disappoint," a feminine voice replied, surprising him only slightly. "Sasuke-kun." His head turned, dark eyes burning with indignation at her familiar address before they widened to see who stepped out of the shadows.

"Sakura... chan?"

The pink tresses were now long again, and her mouth was in that familiar, naive grin he had always associated with her. Her emerald gaze though, was no longer that of a child's but held the determined fire of a woman, grown. She was his age, but somehow, she seemed older than the child he remembered her being or the woman he had thought she would become. "Long time no see," she teased, but her eyes remained serious and trained upon his face.

Sasuke's gaze narrowed. Her head-protector reminded him of his youth, as did her presence. Her figure was no longer boyish, but one of a developing young woman. Haruno Sakura was once his most devoted follower, and after all these years her obsession with him did not seem to have lessened. Even now he wondered what it would have been like if he had an innocent childhood like Sakura had, if he did not have to take the road of revenge and hatred that his brother had set him on those years ago. "I give you a chance to turn back now, Sakura." He finally said. "I suggest you take it and leave while you can."

Haruno Sakura's smile did not leave her face. "What do you think this is?" she inquired. "A social call?" she suggested at the expression he shot her. "If you think I'm the same silly girl as three years ago, you're kindly mistaken."

"Leave," he commanded.

She ignored him completely as she studied his tense form. "I don't think you understand," Sakura straightened and positioned herself in combat form. "I am not here because of my infatuation with you three years ago," her green eyes burned with something he could not name. "I'm here to settle a score you owe to me... Pay up, Sasuke-kun, your loan has interest." It was all the warning he got before she launched into an attack.

Her skill had increased, but he had foreseen all possible endings to their meeting before he had thrown his first shuriken. He had been prepared for her, nothing she could do would surprise him. She was not on par with his level of fighting, and she had never been. The determined look on her face had only been there once. That time, when they had been fighting during the Chunin exams and she had been determined to give her life for their survival. It no longer held the desperation she had expressed upon his leave of the Leaf, instead there was a joy in her expression.

Joy?

Her fist connected with his arm where he blocked her attack, and he felt the push of her chakura slam into him forcing him in the direction of her push. After all these years, her control over chakura still far exceeded anyone he had ever met or known. Perhaps, even in comparison to Uchiha Itachi, his ever elusive brother, she might have exceeded that man in this department. Dust rose around them as he skidded to a halt. It was split seconds he had before he had to dodge her assault from behind. "Getting slow, Sasuke-kun?"

I could end this in an instance, Sasuke thought to himself. Yet, he did not. He just countered whatever she threw at him. Then, suddenly, the attacks stopped and he heard her voice in the dust rising around him. "You're not taking me seriously." Sakura did not sound in the least bit angry or miffed, and her calm observations startled him as much as her earlier appearance had. "I guess, it was only expected, your image of me from the past."

"Leave," he warned her instead.

"Still stuck on that, are we?" Sakura asked. Her voice was no longer where she once was. She really did improve, but he could end this in an instant. "You're wrong, you know? I wasn't fighting with half an effort, no more than you were blocking with half an effort." He raised a brow at her testament. "Fighting isn't my forte, it never was." Sakura admitted, "But, I'm not nearly as weak as you think I am."

Her next attack came a lot faster than her former ones, and this time, she actually got past his defenses before he pushed her away. No damage was done, but she made her point. "Leave, Sakura. For old times sake, I will let you leave. But after this point, if you should attack me again, you will die here."

He could end this fight in an instant.

"Leave?" Sakura asked. The tone of her voice was so expressive that he could almost see her smirk of confidence through the cloud of dust around them. "You make it sound so simple, Sasuke-kun. You make it sound like a choice."

Her next series of attacks all connected, much to his surprise. He had never felt her chakura level raise so much in an instant. And then, she was gone. He could not sense her at all. "Sasuke-kun's greatest ability is in his Uchiha eyes," he heard Sakura speak in the darkness of his sightlessness. "His greatest weapon is his chakura stamina, almost demon-like in its endlessness." He heard her movements and this time he attacked out-right in the direction he heard her last. "Now we fight on the same level, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said. This time her voice was so much closer to his ear than he would have calculated.

In the dark, they were equals.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto rubbed his eyes and yawned. He blinked away the sleep as he reached to find his forehead-protector, a habit he had gotten into since he had first received it from Umuino Iruka, his instructor before his graduation from the Ninja Academy. Naruto rubbed his stomach as it growled in hunger. He glanced at the clock with a frown before his expression changed into one of fear. "Oh no!" Naruto winced. "Sakura-chan's going to have my head if I don't hurry!" Just thinking of Haruno Sakura brought a smile to Naruto's face. In the time since Uchiha Sasuke's disappearance, everything changed. Even though he was unable to keep his promise to her, Sakura's relieved face when he woke up told him that Sasuke was not the only one she was thinking about when Naruto went chasing after the lout. Still, they made their promise by the posts they first been made teammates: that they would grow strong enough to bring Sasuke back, no matter what. After all, this was their ninja way.

He was out of bed in an instant before his eyes widened a second time that day. Imbedded on his wall was a shuriken, and tied to that was a note. He opened the paper just as pounding was heard at his door. Annoyed, he walked to open his front door just as a foot landed in his face. "N-Naruto-kun!" Two voices chorused in alarm to his twitching form on the ground.

"W-What happened?" Naruto asked in a daze.

The sheepish face of Rock Lee was seen hovering over Naruto's prone form. "A-h, sorry, Naruto-kun." Lee rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he helped his comrade up from the other's prone position on the ground. "We came in a hurry because-"

"Have you seen the note, Naruto?" Yamanaka Ino demanded from the doorway impatiently.

"Note?" Naruto asked as he shook off the after affects of Lee's kick to the head. "Aa," he glanced at the note in his hand, scanning over the details. "W-What's going on?" He demanded suddenly.

"You just woke up then, didn't you?" Ino looked deflated.

"Well, she can't be that far off!" Naruto reasoned, looking to his comrades. "Sakura-chan must have placed the shuriken there while I was sleeping!"

"Naruto," Lee looked at him seriously. "Do you know what day it is?"

"Um, Friday?" Naruto supplied cluelessly, not sure if Lee was asking him a trick question.

"No, you idiot!" Ino exclaimed. The blonde rested her hands on her hips in exasperation. "It's already Monday, Naruto! Sakura had us drugged and sleeping the entire weekend!" Naruto's eyes became as round as saucers as his mouth hung open in surprise.

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. His voice boomed so loudly that the building shook with the force of his shock and outrage.

* * *

He was over her body, physically holding her down. She had stopped struggling, and though he couldn't see her, it made no difference at this moment. She was defeated and open to any and all attacks. It was enough to show his dominance over her. No matter how hard she tried, she would never be as good as him, he wondered if she got that now. "You chose to die, Sakura."

His voice was a lot calmer than he felt. He was angry with her, so angry he would have followed through with his words if he wasn't remembering the times in the past when he could not have raised a finger against her even if he had wanted to. "Idiot," she hissed at him. "You owe this to me." Sasuke froze then, his sightless eyes narrowed as he frowned down at her.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked her softly, his voice full of deadly intent.

"When you left three years ago, that person you fought against should have been me." Sasuke laughed at this then, because it was all he could do. "Don't be a fool." she spoke his mind. "I know I was not your dearest friend nor was I even close at any level to fight you," her voice was firm and he stopped to look at her then. "You want to know why I would say such an absurd thing, but it took me three years to get the truth out of Naruto." He could feel the fury of her green gaze even though he could not see it. "You pushed me away all those times, you were so smart, Sasuke-kun. But you let Naruto near where you feared me to tread, you were afraid I would get too close. It took me three years to understand that-"

The kunai landed neatly next to her head, cutting through her pink hair and nicking her ear so that the blood stained the blade. "Shut up," he warned her through clenched teeth. "You know nothing, even to this day. Only, Naruto isn't here to protect you, little girl."

She was silent for a moment, and he wasn't sure if she was gathering her thoughts or fighting back tears. "I'm a Medic-Nin," she answered calmly at last, there was not even a quiver in her voice to betray her. "I worked really hard for the day we will become a team again. I wanted to see your face so badly at first and I was filled with a sense of hope and purpose, because back then I still loved you even though you betrayed everyone and everything I worked hard to protect... now I just want to close that chapter of my life, Sasuke-kun. I came here to end everything."

"I did not say you will walk out of this encounter alive." Sasuke answered, ignoring her later words. "I could care less what you did with your life or what you would have done. None of those things concern me in the least."

"You let me live then," Sakura's voice reached him in the darkness. "If you want to see again, you will let me live now." He was unprepared for her foresight, but then again, it was easy to underestimate Sakura - it was one of her greatest skills, if one was to look carefully.

Sasuke glared at her. "I don't need you." He said each word with increasing emphasis. He felt her breath brush against the skin of his face and when he reached to push her down, he then felt her hands on his shoulder and her kiss on his lips. It was a soft, swift moment that ended as quickly as it begun.

"I know," Sakura said as she pulled away. "You never needed anyone, Sasuke-kun." He could not see the tenderness in her gaze even as her voice stiffened with formality. "You need me now if you want to fight Uchiha Itachi. In this condition you will not even be able to defend yourself against someone of your level three years ago. Knowing your infamy," Sakura's lips quirked, "you wouldn't survive a day, blind as you are. Knowing your enemies, no one will help you with my Sharingan Sight Seal, especially since I'm the one who invented it."

Sasuke's fingers tightened against her arms, enough to hurt her. The Sakura he knew would have whimpered and complained at his treatment, but this Sakura made not a sound and tensed not a muscle. "Give me back my sight then," he commanded.

"At a price," she answered audaciously. His hand clumsily found their way around her neck and he began to squeeze.

"You are not in a position to bargain, Sakura." he reminded her.

"Neither are you," she replied through clenched teeth. Even as spots began to appear before her eyes, even though she was gambling on their past relationship and the knowledge she had gathered, Sakura was determined to see this to the end. Even if it meant her own end, Sakura had already given up everything for this moment. Sasuke just did not know this, and even if he did, knowing Sasuke, Sakura had a feeling he wouldn't understand.

His fingers finally lessened their pressure but they did not release her. "What is the price?" He inquired at last. The pure anger in his aura would have silenced her if she was not better trained.

"The truth," she whispered through sore vocals that vibrated faintly against his fingers.

"The truth," he echoed with a disparaging snare. "What do you want to know the truth of, Sakura?"

"You," she replied. "The you of three years ago."

He bared his teeth at her threateningly. "Your childish whims would be the end of you."

She glared into his unseeing gaze. "What do you think this is?" she demanded. "I'm not asking if you returned my girlish infatuations," she snarled. "I want to know the truth. Why did you leave the village? Why did you fight Naruto like you did? What did we mean to you, Sasuke? What was Team 7 to you?"

He was silent under her assault of questions. "How did you find me?" he asked instead.

Sakura only smiled at this. "Call it destiny," she replied mysteriously. At that moment, Sasuke knew, Sakura was no longer the Sakura he knew three years ago, not anymore than he was the Sasuke of three years ago. Now, perhaps it was indeed time to let go of the past. After all, the past no longer mattered, seeing as how much they had both changed. "Why... Sasuke-kun? Why did you betray us?" Her tone requested his reply to be more logical than emotional. This Sakura was not like anyone Sasuke would have imagined her to have grown up to be. She was on a completely different level than the girl he had known and protected in a past life.

"Call it destiny," he echoed her reply.

In a way, it was just another simple truth in Sasuke's mind.

* * *

_**continue to part 2...**_


	2. Part II Past Lives

**Disclaimer:** Usual applied. I don't own the characters.

**Warning:** They're not OOC, they're just older that's all. I just thought this would be how the characters would be like, older and more mature. (It's an excuse, I'm using it.) This is based on the manga, so I don't know what's going on in the anime and I have no clue on any filler episodes (not even the "unmask Kakashi" one).

**Spoilers:** If you are not at least up to volume 26 of the manga, that's up to chapter 233, please do not spoil the manga or the anime for yourself by reading this little fic.

* * *

_It's been two years since Sasuke's disappearance. Now he's finally been tracked by someone from his past that he least expected and a showdown he did not see coming will inevitably make him face some truths he had long been avoiding. (In the end, though, he would not be the only one left untouched.)_

* * *

**Notice Me**

_by Blue Jeans_

_**Part II - Past Lives**_

Uzumaki Naruto read the note for the umpteenth time as he traveled with his unlikely companions. Nara Shikamaru was dragged reluctantly to join them by a furious Yamanaka Ino. Rock Lee was unfortunately detained by a mission, and though the other had been willing to ignore his duties, Shikamaru reminded all of them that if Godaime knew of this they would most likely all be detained and in trouble. They made one last stop at Akimichi Choji's place, where Shikamaru asked his long time friend to come up with excuses should their disappearance be questioned.

"How long will you be gone?" Choji asked with a quirk of a brow as he ate another potato chip.

Shikamaru huffed as he shrugged his shoulders. "It's a woman, who knows how long."

Choji nodded in understanding, both ignoring the dead-pan glare and the agressive verbal attacks shot at them by Ino in retaliation. "Yeah," Choji agreed as he gave a side-ways glance at the furious blonde. "I guess it could take a while."

After that, they set out for the main gates and located the guard on duty that Friday morning. "Yeah," he nodded as he rubbed his head at their questioning. "I saw Haruno-san walking by and saying she was going to gather herbs from the woods. I was off after around noon time so I can't say when she got back. Did she go missing?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Nah, we just wanted to know which direction she went into. She said she forgot something in the forest, but she's too busy to pick it up herself."

The guarded looked at them uncertainly, but Shikamaru assured him that they were doing some hunter training in the woods while looking for whatever Sakura forgot, and it would do all three of them good to practice some team-work while at it. The guard nodded agreeably after this and pointed in the direction Sakura went. Naruto kept silent until they were some distance away. When they were out of sight from the guards, he let go of a loud sigh of relief. "Man that was close!" Naruto exclaimed, quite satisfied with his silent role in the whole ordeal.

Shikamaru shrugged again. "Not really. It would have been troublesome if you had to lie, Naruto-kun." Ino nodded in agreement, both ignoring the glare Naruto shot to each of them.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Naruto demanded, feeling as he should definitely be insulted at this point.

"That you are a horrible liar," Ino stated matter-of-factly as she flipped her hair away from her shoulders. "Everyone knows that, Naruto-kun." She emphasised his name for affects as she gave her companion a pointed look. "Sakura-chan always said you were a bit too simple to tell a good lie."

"W-What?" Naruto demanded angrily. "Sakura-chan would never-" Pausing Naruto looked away sharply, but Ino caught his forlorn gaze as he turned away to the trees.

The blonde ninja took pity on him then and so she decided to explain herself to Naruto. "It was a long time ago," Ino said. She smiled a bit nostalgically at the past as she remembered their childhood together. "Sakura-chan's said nothing but good of you since... since that day."

Naruto clenched his fist and refused to face his companions. He finally broke the silence after a long pause, his words more angry than Ino or Shikamaru were prepared to hear. "I failed her, you know?" he forced out each word through clenched teeth of defeat and saddness, yet the emotions he was expressing was still held back and controlled. "She should have continued to criticize me."

Ino shook her head. "No," she replied. Naruto's head turned her way in surprise. "To Sakura-chan, you did her the greatest favor anyone could." Ino silenced Naruto with another shake of her head when she saw him ready to protest her words vigorously. "No, Naruto-kun, you're the one who doesn't understand. To Sakura-chan, you put your life on the line to protect something she believed in with all of her heart. For that, she could never fault you. Never."

"Ino..." Naruto looked at her before turning away. His gaze was filled with uncertainty.

Ino giggled a little as she pointed to herself. "You shouldn't doubt me, Naruto-kun. I should know," she stated proudly, chastising her companion with great flourish. "I'm a woman, after all. And nothing can beat a woman's intuition."

Shikamaru sighed in annoyance at this. These types of dramatic moments seem to always spring up around him without him having asked for any of it. "So troublesome," he muttered to himself just as they picked up on Sakura's trail. "A woman's intuition indeed." he added to himself softly, wise enough to know he didn't want such a comment to reach Ino's ears.

Yet somehow, with her ears always in tuned to gossip, Ino heard Shikamaru's mutterings despite his efforts. The rest of the trip was then filled with bickering and friendly bantering that had long been missed. Naruto studied his two comrades with a silent longing in his eyes. Somehow, after all this time, he missed such moments between himself and his old teammates. After losing Sasuke, nothing had been the same again. Knowing that, Naruto silently promised himself that he would not lose Sakura too.

No matter what, he would bring her back in one piece. That was his ninja way.

* * *

The fire was lit and they sat in silence. Her hair was gold and red, highlighted by the dancing flames. She was scowling, but it could not be helped. "Did you have to tie me?" Haruno Sakura demanded once more, breaking through a silence he was long accustomed to.

"I didn't have to light a fire, but I did." Uchiha Sasuke answered in his own way. He looked at her pointedly, even though he could still not see her at all.

"I'm not going to run away," Sakura muttered to herself, but he heard her clearly nonetheless.

"You would attack me like before," Sasuke pointed out. His tone gave the impression that the subject was not worth any more discussion after his statement.

Glaring at Sasuke didn't seem to work, as he was blind, so Sakura huffed instead and silence fell between them once more. After some time, she gathered up her courage to speak again, to ask him the thing he did not wish to answer. "Are you going to tell me the truth?" Her words sounded fragile to her own ears, but her gaze was steady as their eyes locked across the darkness and fire, even if he did not know the intensity of that moment.

Sasuke was the first to turn away, stroking the fire before turning his face to the skies overhead. For a moment, Sakura wondered if she had ever seen such an expression on his face while they had been training. She had a feeling that if Sasuke could see, he would never reveal this side of himself to her. It was not likely she would ever see such an expression again, and since she had not seen him for some time she doubt she would remember a time in the past. Memories had always been unreliable, even her own, even in moments she was sure she would never forget.

Inner Sakura struggled to the surface and valiantly denied to have ever been forgetful of anything, but vanity had passed her years ago. Vanity saved no one from tears when they lose things most precious to them. To Sakura, when Sasuke had left, she had lost almost everything. If it had not been for her determination to reach him, if Naruto had not been so stubborn as to cling to his promise...

"I hated you... a little." she said in the silence. He looked surprised at her, then. "I couldn't hate you for leaving me, for taking away the most precious thing from me. I couldn't even hate you for betraying everything I loved and held dear. But-" she paused to collect herself before looking at him in the eyes "-when you went out of your way to kill Naruto that day. When I had to watch helplessly as Kakashi-sensei came back with Naruto's broken body... he never looked so small to me, so frail... until that day. I hated you a little."

He looked like he understood, but Sakura had long learned that Sasuke looked like he understood a lot of things that he could not grasp. "I expected it," he answered her with that same serene look on his face.

She smiled a little ruefully at him then. "Yeah, but I don't think you understand the whys behind it at all."

He shot a confused look her way, but because he could not see her it looked as if he was glancing at the woods behind her shoulder. "I didn't hate you for what you did to Naruto. He... He would have done no different if he knew the outcome of that day. I doubt neither or you regret such a day, perhaps just how it ended. I hated you partially because I never would have thought that you would have let me down like that. I never understood why you betrayed yourself like that. I hated you partially for taking on such a burden on yourself, for hurting yourself like that."

"I had to kill my dearest friend." Sasuke replied with cold bluntness. "To kill the man I hated, I must walk his path... the path that made him what he was."

Sakura looked at him sharply then. "You are not Uchiha Itachi," her words were so filled with power that Sasuke could almost see her in the darkness. She blazed, like a flame, like a star, but then her voice was calm and the fragile light was gone as well, he was in the darkness again with only her voice as his companion. "You will never be him."

After such words, Sasuke was incensed. "Don't you dare," he whispered to clenched teeth. "I will kill him one way or another. That is my destiny." There was more emotion in his voice now than he had ever expressed in her presence, but Sakura was not shocked by his display of emotions.

Instead she was feeling so angry and helpless that tears gathered in her eyes. She didn't want to cry any more tears for Sasuke, but seeing him like this, Sakura felt too overwhelmed by emotions to express all the things she felt in that moment. If only it wasn't through tears though. So she held her tongue for a moment longer than she would have liked as she gathered her composure. "Did Itachi... have many friends?" Sakura finally asked.

Sasuke paused at this, surprised by her inquire. Despite himself, he could not help but think back. Thinking back, he could not even remember meeting the man Itachi held so close to his heart. "I had never met him... the man Itachi killed to become what he had become."

Sakura smiled. "If Itachi stayed but a day in the village, he would not have been able to walk very far before meeting an ally of Sasuke-kun. He would not have to go far to see someone who would give his life up for Sasuke-kun. And if he but walked a little further, he would have met friends of Sasuke-kun's, even if he had wanted to avoid them."

Sasuke snarled at her. "I had no one."

"No," Sakura shook her head. "If you but reached out a little, you would have realized you had everyone's support all along. When you walked away that day, even though only Naruto reached you, many of our friends and comrades risked their lives so that Naruto could reach you in time. Many of us who were not strong enough to fight off the opponents that blocked the way could but wait, but Naruto, he fought you so desperately that day because the whole village was at his back, and everyone's desires was there. We were all there, fighting to bring you back."

"He failed." Sasuke answered with a dead-pan certainty. "Such emotions always fail."

Sakura glared at him, she was angry again. Her anger lit her afire in his gaze. "After all these years, you still don't understand anything! Sasuke-"

In that moment he felt her tone change, felt the enemy that concealed themselves not too far off. Before he knew it, her body was over his, covering him. He felt something impact her, pushing them both onto the ground. Her hands were shaking as they held his face. He heard her mouth whisper against his skin, an intimate kiss with unknown words imprinted onto his skin.

And then the night came bursting into his gaze and he was off the ground, fighting the intruders. It was ninja trackers, by the looks of it, Sound Nins. His three year lease was coming to a close and the curse seal vibrated under his skin to remind him that time was almost up. Soon, Orochimaru will come searching for him. His blood sang an unknown song at such a thought, and he gripped his neck with annoyance and anger in his gaze.

"Sa-suke...-kun." He heard her faint breath and remembered why he was there. There were two shurikens on her back. The second one had released the tie around her hands while scraping her wrists in a bloody mess. Two others were embedded in her legs, and they went deeper than the ones on her back. It was the first that worried him, it made her bleed more than he would have liked. "T-take it out, Sasuke-kun," she instructed him, despite his protests. "There are herbs in my medicine bag. Please, Sasuke-kun, take them out now!" He did what he was told and put pressure on her wounds to stop the bleeding to the best of his abilities.

As soon as Sasuke was done tying the last knot on her pressure point, he was off again to make sure the men were dead before he returned to treat her some more. There were long moments of silence that followed, interrupted only when she gave him more instructions. He should have left her to the wolves, but somehow, like those years ago, he could not hurt her like that. Even now, when they had nothing to tie their fates to each other anymore, he couldn't leave her to die. "You should have let the shuriken hit me."

She smiled a bit at this when he finally propped her to the tree. "You wouldn't have been able to handle the poison." He looked at her incredulously. "There'll be a fever," she went on, ignoring him completely. "I won't be able to be moved for days. I guess that's lucky for you, hm?"

"I am going in the morning," he finally said. He realized what she had meant and it surprised him that she did it having such knowledge. The Sakura he knew... in such a situation he would not have been able to tell what she would have done, but perhaps letting him go would not be something he would have counted on.

Sakura smiled a bit at his somber expression. "It can't be helped. Even after all this time, I am just as foolish as you remembered me, is that what you think?"

He looked away from her pained expression. "You were always an idiot, just like... Naruto."

"He's alive, you know?" he turned sharply at her then. "I guess your killing intent wasn't as strong as you had assumed." He cursed under his breath at this. "It doesn't make you weaker than your brother," Sakura added softly. "Even if you don't believe me now when I say this, I think you are stronger than he could ever be. I think he made you walk this path because he could not walk the one you used to follow."

"Itachi could care less what you think." Sasuke said coldly.

"You haven't used that tone of voice with me for a long time." Sakura said instead. She smiled at him with that same rueful expression he never would have associated with her in their childhood. "I missed it... somehow I even missed that." She laughed at herself then, another something he had never seen Sakura do in their time together, years ago.

"You will not survive on your own." He explained as he carried her through half the night, looking for a place the Sound Nins would not reach her at.

Sakura looked at him through hooded eyes when they settled. "I'll live," she answered cheerfully. Her grin was so sudden that Sasuke could not help but stare in awe as a light in her that none of her earlier anger could have matched sparked before his eyes. It was a spark he had also forgotten about her, a spark he could never understand. "My comrades will come for me, don't worry. I had to drug them just so I could get away to find you."

He wanted to ask her how she was even able to do such a thing that no one else could have done before her. They were far from the borders of Leaf now, at least the last time he checked. Sasuke had been very careful about that. Sakura had not answered him before when he had asked her of how she had found him, and Sasuke doubted that she would answer him now. She had always been too determined for her own good, especially when it came to him.

"Sasuke," her trembling hand touched his cheek, leaving dirt and blood in its wake. She smiled at him so ruefully that he could do nothing but listen to her words. Even if his gaze was indifferent and cold, it had never affected her no matter how hard he tried. "One day, I believe Naruto will fulfill his promise to me."

"What promise?" he asked out of curiosity, though his tone of voice did not betray him.

"That he will bring you back to me," she answered. Her eyes were so clear and trusting and sure, Sasuke thought for a moment that he was speaking once more to a child.

"Idiot," he whispered. His voice was cold with uncertainty. He tossed the blanket he had used for his last year of travel over her shaking form. Sasuke could see, even in the darkness, how her eyes were clouding over from poison and sickness. He would have to find another to replace the blanket she was now using, but he was sure he could get his hands on one considering the number of Sound Ninjas he had taken down that evening.

He hurried back to camp and took what he could before carefully covering his tracks and hiding all evidence of their previous camp site. When he returned to their new camp, Sakura had gotten far worse than when he had left her, which was not much of a surprise to him in the least. That night her fever climbed in an alarming rate. He stayed to watch over her and forced her to keep the blanket around her shivering, and yet, over-heated body.

She called out to him several times during the night, awakening him from his doze beside her. Once, she reached out to him, calling, asking, and crying before she settled as her hand brushed his. Somehow, Sakura's fingers laced over with Sasuke's own startled ones before she fell into unconsciousness again. Sometimes she would whimper, once even asking if Naruto was alright. It seemed, he was not the only one reliving memories of the past.

"Sasuke-kun," she asked him as the sunlight touched the tips of the trees overhead. Her fever broke not too long ago, but her form was still far too weak for anything but motionless suffering, and she was still wrecked with pain from the affects of the poison. Somehow she sensed him leaving her behind again without him having made a sound.

Sakura, for some reason, always knew when he was leaving her. Sasuke had made sure she could reach the bags of water and food stuffs that he left her, it would buy her time. He was leaving as he had said he would, even though he was uncertain of her condition. It could not be helped. She was the one who was trailing after him. "You're welcome," her voice floated over the chirping of the birds and the cool morning breeze.

His back stiffened in surprise at her words. After three years, she still remembered that night that was the beginning and the end of them all. He smiled ruefully at the memories of that time, a life he had abandoned for revenge and the words he did not think she heard as he had rendered her unconscious. With her, he could not help but remember such a past. With her, the unwelcome past would only catch up to him all too quickly.

"Goodbye, Sakura." He was gone before she could reply. "Thank you," he sighed before his shadow became a whisper in the woods.

* * *

Naruto did not know what led him there, but in the exhaustion of traveling non-stop for four days, he finally arrived by a small brook. He was hungry, so he told his comrades he was going to look for food. Ino assured him that she would be the one gathering fire-wood that evening while Shikamaru lazily began gathering water, all the while muttering about troublesome, missing Leaf Nins.

Naruto almost stumbled over her when he came upon her prone form in the small, forest clearing. For a second he feared that he had came too late, and that she was dead. With that same fear, he dropped onto his knees, speechless. Her uniform was bloody, and she upturned face looked sickly. But Naruto noticed in the next second that she was breathing. "Sakura-chan!" He cried out in relief, clutching her to him worriedly.

"Ouch," she muttered into his shoulder in response to his fierce hug. Sleepily she wakened, eyes unfocused as Naruto pulled back sheepishly.

"S-sorry, Sakura-chan." He murmured. He couldn't help but touch her hair and her face, checking her for injuries, reassuring himself of her continued existence. He found four wounds on her body, but they were healing, though not very well from lack of care.

"Naru...to," Sakura smiled hazily up at him as he inspected her. Her limp hands rose to stop him as he began to pull at her bandages. "You... came."

He shot her a sharp look. "Of course I came," he sounded angry now. His earlier worries melting slightly to emotions he had not had the time to indulge.

"I...didn't doubt you would." Sakura struggled with her words through her sore throat, and Naruto noticed finger print bruises on her neck. "I missed you," Sakura smiled at him. There was a look in her eyes in that startled moment that Naruto had never seen her direct at him. It was always Sasuke that such a gaze was for, even after all this time there had never been anyone else she looked at with that expression. Yet somehow, the tenderness, even for a moment, was just for him. "I- I'm sorry, I worried you."

"Idiot," he breathed out in awed surprise. Even in such a moment that Naruto had always thought would bring him nothing but smiles, there was a pain in his chest that would not leave. A wry smile graced his lips as he looked down at her. "I'll always come looking for you, and don't you forget that the next time you decide to run away after drugging us."

"I have so much to tell you," Sakura struggled out, her smile not leaving her haggard face. Naruto could tell she was coming in and out of consciousness. "Naruto," she whispered as he carefully lifted her to take her to camp. "You're so... warm," she mumbled. She wasn't able to see Naruto's spreading blush as Sakura lost her grip with reality once more.

* * *

_**continue to part 3...**_


	3. Part III Someday

**Disclaimer:** Usual applied. I don't own the characters.

**Warning:** They're not OOC, they're just older that's all. I just thought this would be how the characters would be like, older and more mature. (It's an excuse, I'm using it.) This is based on the manga, so I don't know what's going on in the anime and I have no clue on any filler episodes (not even the "unmask Kakashi" one).

**Spoilers:** If you are not at least up to volume 26 of the manga, that's up to chapter 233, please do not spoil the manga or the anime for yourself by reading this little fic.

* * *

_It's been two years since Sasuke's disappearance. Now he's finally been tracked by someone from his past that he least expected and a showdown he did not see coming will inevitably make him face some truths he had long been avoiding. (In the end, though, he would not be the only one left untouched.)_

* * *

**Notice Me**

_by Blue Jeans_

_**Part III - Someday**_

By the time Haruno Sakura gained consciousness again, they were two days away from the Leaf Village. Nara Shikamaru was arguing over excuses with Yamanaka Ino, excuses that they would need to explain their absence that others surely would have noticed by now. The two were going over an entire story while roasting dinner over the fire, so it was not surprising that the first face Sakura saw hovering over her was Uzumaki Naruto's determined one.

"Naruto...?" She smiled at the face he was making at her. In her opinion, it was not an expression that suited the Naruto she knew.

"Why did you leave?" he asked her instead.

She grinned all the more. "That's a nice, how-are-you to you too."

"If I don't get you to answer me now, I'll never get the answer." Naruto reasoned. "If you were any stronger than now, you'd just out smart me."

"Naruto," Sakura admonished. Her smile disappeared at his words. "What are you saying."

"I'm too simple-minded for your games, and you're too weak to play them effectively with me now." Naruto answered bluntly. Sakura could see how those words affected him, he was very uncomfortable being the person that was facing her now.

"You are not simple-minded," Sakura said after a pause. "I was the one who was too simple-minded back then." Her hand covered his tensed fist. "Naruto," she smiled up at him. "I went because I knew it was time. I went because I knew I would find him now." Naruto looked ready to ask more questions but Sakura shook her head and gently silenced him. "Sasuke, Naruto, I found him."

Naruto's face changed completely then. One moment there was joy and then the next confusion, and finally he settled on anger. "He did this to you?" Naruto nodded at her wounds.

Sakura winced slightly. "Just the bruises," she answered honestly. "The rest are from the Sound Nins that had attacked both of us."

If her hand had not been on his and her condition so severe, Naruto probably would have ran off looking for Sasuke in that moment to fight. "Don't," she stopped him before he could began to react. "I knew this would happen, and I let it happen."

"Sakura...-chan?"

She could not face him in that moment as she looked away. "There was something I had to ask, even if he couldn't give me any satisfying answers. Even if he didn't know it himself... There was something I never had a chance to say those years ago."

Naruto gently closed his hand over hers as he turned his palm to receive her weak fingers. Gently he leaned over and brushed her hair from her eyes. "What did he say?" He asked with genuine curiosity, even though she could see the anger still restrained in his gaze. It had taken such a long time and many pains for Naruto to gain this type of restraint. Years ago, he would have at least yelled or protested loudly, and such silent moments would not have been imaginable. It was something of his that she missed, but then again, Naruto was Naruto, and most of the time he was his loud, cheerful self. At this moment, Sakura could not help but miss how he was like normally, even when during those times she would only wish for him to shut up and settle down.

"He will not veer from the course his brother had set for him," Sakura answered calmly. Naruto swore. "You know how it is, Naruto. You are still chasing after his shadow, like I had been just a few nights ago."

Naruto froze and looked at Sakura's upturned face. He touched the tear she felt sliding from her eyes without knowing why. "I missed you," Sakura whispered. "I missed us, the team, and our innocence then. I missed that time."

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto held her as he knew no other way to deal with a crying girl. "I will never leave you."

She smiled then. "Yeah," Sakura agreed. "That is your ninja way."

"Are you guys finished, yet?" Shikamaru asked impatiently. "We're leaving as soon as you two eat some food."

"Sakura-chan," Ino looked excitedly at her, glad that she had finally wakened. "When you're better, you and I will have a talk." Ino had one of those don't-even-try-to-argue-with-me looks, one that Sakura answered with a weak smile of defeat.

"Alright, alright," Sakura conceded. "I solemnly swear."

Naruto laughed sheepishly while Sakura grinned in embarrassment within his embrace by the time the two finished lecturing them. A gladness spread over Sakura's heart, knowing the truth she spoke when she had said those words to Sasuke. Her companions would always be there for her and when she fought, everyone was rooting for her. Even if Sasuke didn't know it now, one day, Sakura hoped he would understand the village he was born within.

Everything was the way it should be now. Everything was the way they had chosen it to be. Sasuke made his decisions, and Sakura made hers as well. For now, even if she still looked to the sky and wondered about him, there were other people who were just as important to her in her life as he had once been. There were other people that she had build the tattered world he left in his wake around, those who would always come for her when she was in need.

Sakura tightened her grip around Naruto after he made her eat some solid food, though she could not stomach much of it. She was getting sleepy again when they started on the road, her head resting on Naruto's back. "Naruto," she whispered with a warmth in her voice that she did not often let slip.

"Hmm?" he glanced at her from over his shoulder.

"I... will never leave you, either," she smiled into his shoulder. "That is my ninja way." No matter where the road may lead them, they would always be a team. Even if Sasuke did not notice it, Naruto and Sakura would never leave him. Should he be in trouble, they would help him and they would go to him, whether or not he ask it of them.

Someday, Sasuke may understand the way of a truly strong ninja. A path that even the ever powerful Uchiha Itachi could not follow. Because she had faith in Sasuke, Sakura knew that one day they would be reunited, and when that time came, Naruto would no longer chase after shadows and look off into the horizon with a forlorn expression that had never suited him. When that time came, the three of them would laugh together over their own foolishness and continue to smile into the darkness of the night and the shadows they lived within.

When that time comes we will all get what we truly desired for all along. For that most important person in our lives to notice who we are and who we have become. When that time comes, we would smile proudly... having lived a life worth dying - a life worth living every single, suffering moment - for.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura murmured sleepily against his shoulder. He blinked at her questioningly as she felt her consciousness leave her. "I'll need... a haircut again when we get back home." She said in a slurred, and exhausted tone. Sakura wanted to add more to it by saying that it was time to let go of the past, or something symbolic like that but it was as far as she got before her sleep exhausted mind shut her down. She was asleep before the words could form properly in her mind.

Naruto smiled fondly at her request, relieved by the feel of her breath becoming deep and even. "Yeah," he answered in a soft whisper. "Let's go home."

**The End.**

* * *

_**Brief note from Author:**_

No particular pairing in mind, and not much on illuminating anyone's feelings that wasn't already obvious by the manga. Just an idea that struck me as odd... even though Sasuke considered Naruto his closest friend, I thought it was because he was so set on having Sakura at arm's length he unintentionally let Naruto in during his carelessness... but to fight to keep Sakura at such a distance... their interactions intrigued me. Somehow, I had the feeling that Sasuke chose Naruto to fight against for the very reason that Sakura would not be able to survive the encounter that was destined to happen if Sasuke had not been careful. That and Naruto was more powerful an opponent, one Sasuke ended up chasing after as much as Naruto chased after Sasuke.

Anyway, first Naruto fanfic. No clue how it went, probably got off track, and I know it got really corny on me while being slightly (if not a lot) OOC... I could excuse it with a "set in the future" deal... hopefully they retained some old personas...

Yeah, I know, Inner Sakura did not make much of an appearance, but if you read the manga, I.S. makes less and less appearances as things get more and more serious. This fic's based on the manga.

Eh, well, if you enjoyed it, that's all that matters :)

So, hoped you enjoyed it!

**_blue_**

P.S. Sorry, no editor and no editing, I wrote this whole thing in one day and two sittings since I had errands to run and people to meet in between. Pretty much, it's like a short story for me... but it came it went, it's a whim. Criticize away. At this moment, I'm finished... WHEW! And as I'm too impatient for unfinished products, I don't think you would want me to slowly post the parts just because I'm an ego-manic (no offense to those who are) and I'm definitely not going to post one chapter at a time just because I want people to review more. If you want to drop a line, feel free to, if you don't, I was once a lazy ass just like you... and then I started writing and reading unfinished fics (which, believe me, makes one review like nothing else)... So sucks for me and it's rather stupid of me too to do this to myself... but whatever...


End file.
